ARCATA, CA -- The Fire Arts Center is presenting "The Elephant Show" this month, with a reception tonight during Arts! Arcata from 6 to 9 p.m. Partial proceeds from this event will go to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn.

Many members of the Fire Arts Center have created diverse elephant-inspired pieces, from platters with intricate glaze design work to detailed sculptural pieces, all of which will be on display.

Members said the reason for the show is that they are "truly inspired by the work being done at The Elephant Sanctuary to support and protect these endangered animals."

The Elephant Sanctuary is the country's largest natural-habitat refuge developed specifically for endangered African and Asian elephants. Residents at the sanctuary are retired from circuses and zoos, with ample acreage and specially designed habitats to facilitate a healthy and natural life. Each elephant has its own special story, each life and story as individual as any human being's.

One such story is that of Sissy, an Asian elephant born in Thailand in 1969. In 1981 while captive in a zoo in Gainesville, Texas, a flood killed many of the animals at the zoo. Sissy was presumed dead as well, but when the waters started to recede, she was seen with her trunk wrapped around a tree; she had managed to keep it above the water line and thus survived.

After that experience, Sissy was traumatized around water. She retired in 2000 and has lived at the Elephant Sanctuary, where she has healed from her trauma and is now seen swimming with her friends.

For more information on the Elephant Sanctuary and the upcoming elephant show, visit www.fireartsarcata.com to find a link to the sanctuary. The artists are also working on a web page featuring the artwork to be sold at the show.

Indian fusion music will be provided by Thatcher Holvick-Norton from 6 to 8 p.m during the Arts! Arcata opening tonight.

The community is invited to come support these magnificent and endangered elephants.